“Any family with
love, given freely and without condition, can solve any crisis.”

Bruno Grigoletti
considers that sentence, which closes his novel The Soul Patrol, to be
the most important in the book.

He wrote The
Soul Patrol in response to the request of his oldest daughter, as well as to
satisfy his desires as a parent. Concerned about the effects of media on young
people, Grigoletti says he “recognized that many kids have worries, issues and
dilemmas much like adults do.” He hopes his first novel will be the start of a
series of many that will address the concerns he sees his two daughters and
their friends facing.

Best described as a
“ghost story,” the book’s main group of characters (the author sees them as
being similar to the kids in the classic Our Gang) deals with a divorce
and the death of a friend in a car accident. In typical ghost story fashion,
their friend can’t cross over until the mortal characters figure out what they
must do.

Although Grigoletti
has lost friends in his life and also has had a couple of close brushes with
death himself, he says his children haven’t had to deal with divorce and death
personally. That led him to create something that would help them -- and his
much larger audience of readers -- to prepare for some of the difficult things
life may bring them.

“My children still
have both sets of grandparents and even their great grandparents on my side of
the family. They have yet to face losing someone who they are close to and
love,” explains the author, adding that, at the same time, he didn’t want to
“overwhelm” them (or his readers). Instead he has determined to keep the
messages subtle with a great story surrounding them.

His next book,
The Soul Patrol: Five Against One will deal with more media topics,
including the influence of celebrities.

“There is bullying
going on. A lot of it has to do with coming of age and peer pressure. There is a
lot going on that has some celebrity influence in it,” says Grigoletti, adding
that the thirteen-year-old protagonist is left with the dilemma of needing to
warn a girl she hates or letting her walk into a personally devastating trap.

Grigoletti confirms
that media influences will continue to be a part of the themes within his future
books, especially as parents are seeking ways to keep their kids occupied. While
quick to say he’s not someone “who wants to judge another person’s lifestyle,”
he does have definite concerns about the amount of media time in a child’s life
that is displacing time with family. “If surfing the net and other things are
monitored, that’s okay. But if not, it can get out of hand,” he suggests.

Finding a good book
for your adolescents can be nearly as difficult as discovering a new movie, TV
show or any other media. We can only hope Bruno Grigoletti’s books will do well
in the marketplace and encourage more authors to see similar efforts.

Rod Gustafson

For those who want
to give Bruno Grigoletti’s books a read, you can check the following retailers:

Besides writing this column for the Parents Television Council, Rod Gustafson authors Parent Previews® - a newspaper and Internet column (published in association with movies.com) that reviews movies from a parent's perspective. He's also the film critic for a major Canadian TV station, various radio stations and serves on the executive of the Alberta Association for Media Awareness. Finally, his most important role is being the father to four wonderful children and husband to his beautiful wife (and co-worker) Donna.

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